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Greetings to another evening of exciting Champions League football. 9 games are scheduled for this evening, including three English clubs in action. Chelsea take on Barcelona in the marquee fixture of the night, while Newcastle travel to Marseille and Manchester City host Leverkusen.

Group Rankings

It's the midway point of the league stage, meaning the rankings is taking form. All six British teams are currently in the top 12, but there are only two pts separating fifth and sixteenth position, thus there's a whiff of uncertainty about the whole thing. Everything is to play for.

Tonight’s Fixtures

These are tonight’s games, all kicking off at 8pm except where noted:

• Ajax 0-1 Benfica (5.45pm)
• Galatasaray 0-0 Union SG (17:45)
• Juventus face Bodo/Glimt
• Barcelona take on Chelsea
• Villarreal meet Dortmund
• Man City v Leverkusen
• Marseille v Newcastle
• Qarabag play Napoli
• Slavia Prague v Athletic Bilbao

Squad Updates

Fofana, Moises Caicedo, Garnacho, Gusto and Estevao join the Chelsea team. Excluded are Adarabioyo, Andrey Santos, Jamie Gittens, Pedro and Delap.

Lamine Yamal starts for Barcelona; Marcus Rashford is on the bench.

The Blues (probable 4-3-3) Sanchez; Reece James, Fofana, Chalobah, Marc Cucurella; Gusto, Caicedo, Enzo; Estevao, Pedro Neto, Garnacho.

Subs: Kjell Scherpen, Tosin Adarabioyo, Badiashile, Delap, Bynoe-Gittens, Andrey Santos, Joao Pedro, Hato, George, Acheampong, Marc Guiu, Buonanotte.

Barça (probable four-two-three-one): Joan Garcia; Jules Kounde, Araujo, Cubarsi, Alejandro Balde; Garcia, De Jong; Lamine Yamal, Fermin Lopez, Torres; Robert Lewandowski.

Subs: Wojciech Szczesny, Diego Kochen, Raphinha, Rashford, Christensen, Casado, Gerard, Dani Olmo, Noah Darvich, Dro Fernandez, Roony Bardghji.

Referee Slavko Vincic (Slovenian).

Previous Encounters

The only previous meeting between Newcastle and Marseille was the Uefa Cup semi-final of 2004, claimed by an emerging superstar from Côte d'Ivoire. Bayer Leverkusen and Manchester City have not faced each other previously. Chelsea and Barcelona have a notable history.

Initial Game Reports

Only a single goal in the first half of the two early games. Samuel Dahl's sixth-minute goal has earned Benfica under Mourinho a 1-0 lead at the Dutch side.

Marseille v Newcastle Preview

Although The Magpies traveled to the south of France coming off their restorative 2-1 home English top-flight win against City on the weekend, and having defeated Union SG, the Portuguese side and Bilbao in the European Cup, their only on the road victory since early April came in the Belgian capital at Union Saint-Gilloise.

It's not that Eddie Howe was eager to discuss the mental side of this away form issue. “The Champions League is different to domestic games,” said the manager, whose team are 6th in the Champions League standings, with 9 pts from a available twelve and automatic qualification to the knockout phase almost within touching distance. “I am not sure if you can draw parallels between them.”

A dedicated live feed is available for Barcelona vs Chelsea. Murray, the minute-by-minute equivalent of Diego Maradona is on duty for that.